“Matt,” Leo said, breaking in over Matt’s comm before Tyler could answer. “I’m on the flight deck, at the pilot’s station. Geez, that thing is weird. I’ve never seen a ship like it. Wherever Ben sent us, I don’t think it’s the Spiral or the Milky Way.”

  “That doesn’t matter right now. What’s the ship doing?”

  “Closing in and decelerating. It looks like whoever they are, they plan to dock and board.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. We’re in the armory.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to try to outrun them?”

  “I’m pretty sure we can’t outrun them. Every option is risky, but Noah’s idea feels the least suicidal.”

  “Copy that. They’ll need to synchronize with us and find a way through our forward shields to board. You probably have another fifteen minutes or so if you’re aiming to provide some nasty surprises.”

  “That should be plenty long enough. Let me know when they start working on disabling the shields.”

  “Will do, Boss.”

  “Last chance,” Matt said, still holding the rifle out to Tyler, who looked torn between the trauma of his brother’s murder and his desire to defend himself. Finally, he relented, snatching the weapon out of Matt’s hands. “We have target dummies and reinforced plating in the gym for practice, but there’s no time for that. Do your best. Just like any other gun, aim, hold your breath, and pull the trigger.”

  “Explain the three settings,” I pressed.

  He tapped each labeled position in turn. “Single bolt per squeeze. Three bolts per squeeze. Steady stream of superheated plasma, kind of like a flamethrower.”

  “I see armor back there,” Tyler said, pointing to the rack behind the rifles. “We could probably use some of that.”

  “Powered armor has a learning curve,” Matt replied. “And there’s no time to train you. If we need more than these rifles, we’re already screwed.”

  “That’s not reassuring.” Tee blanched, his face losing all color.

  “I’m not trying to be reassuring, I’m trying to be honest. Come on. We need to get in position before they arrive.”

  Once more, we trailed after Matt, racing down the passageway. Tyler glanced over at me. “Are you having the adventure of a lifetime yet?”

  I remained silent. As frightened as I was, I didn’t want to admit to him—or anyone else, including myself—that despite the newest threat to our lives, this was still a hell of a lot better than sitting in a hospital room, waiting for some bureaucrat to seize control of my future.

  CHAPTER 21

  The elevator doors slid open on the upper level of the hangar deck, and I swallowed hard as Matt waved us forward, the metal gridwork clanging under our feet as we moved toward the railing. Still kneeling below us on the hangar deck, its fists planted on the decking, the looming head and shoulders of the Hunter mech hid us from view from anyone breaching the hangar entrance.

  "We'll take positions here,” Matt said. "Hopefully we can catch them by surprise if they decide to lock on and board us." He tapped me on the shoulder. “I want you and Allyssa there.” He pointed to the gap where the left arm met the torso. The location provided a narrow lane of fire and viewpoint to the deck below. Tyler followed our de facto leader to the other side of the upper level where he and Matt took up the same positions behind the mech’s right shoulder joint.

  Once we were in position, the hangar bay fell still, so silent I could hear every labored, frightened breath Ally took.

  “Boss,” Leo said, his sudden voice so loud over Matt’s comm badge it nearly made me jump out of my skin. “The contact just hit us with another volley of…something. No damage, no shield degradation. I don’t know what to make of it.”

  “Are they still approaching?” Matt asked.

  “Aye. Still decelerating. But their course has shifted. If they stay on their current trajectory, they’ll slide past us at less than a kilometer.”

  “They probably saw how Head Case is patched together with shipping containers and decided the salvage wasn’t worth the effort,” Alyssa whispered.

  “I hope so,” I replied.

  “How long until they’re past?” Matt asked.

  “Three minutes.”

  The silence returned, thicker and tenser. Beside me, Alyssa's whole body trembled. I shook just as badly while I questioned my prior decision that I was better off out here than back in the hospital. If this entire adventure to this point had proven anything, it was how much I wanted to live to become the man my parents had always tried to teach me to be. I felt like I owed them that much. I wasn't thrilled about the idea of using deadly force against another living being, but I also had no intention of letting some alien assholes harm my new friends or rob me of my future.

  One minute passed. Another. The seconds seemed to tick away like hours, every one of them raising another hair on my arms and cutting my ragged breathing just a little shorter. Anticipation had me on the verge of panic. I wanted to scream at the alien ship to either move along, grab on, or blow us to bits, so long as it did something already.

  “Boss,” Leo said, again making me twitch when he broke the uneasy silence. “The contact just stopped.”

  “What do you mean, stopped?” Matt asked.

  “Yeah, I guess that’s technically not the right term. They’re matching our velocity and heading and floating beside us, about a hundred meters past the flight deck transparency.”

  “And doing what?”

  “Nothing.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Do they want us or not?” Tyler asked, clearly on edge. Not that I was one to talk. I was ready to jump out of my skin to get away from this predicament.

  “Maybe they’re scanning us,” Ally suggested, sticking to her guns.

  All of the lights in the hangar went out.

  The sudden darkness elicited a whimper from Alyssa, begging to go home. I felt the same way, but I clenched my jaw to keep from crying out. On the other side of the Hunter, Tyler’s harsh whispers suggested we were all in the same boat.

  “Boss, the reactor just took itself offline,” Leo said. “We’re on backup power for life support.”

  “What do you mean, took itself offline?” Matt asked. “Levi, what’s your status?”

  The ship’s AI didn’t answer.

  “I probably don’t need to tell you this, but shields are down,” Leo continued. The pilot station is offline too, but I can see the alien craft outside. They’re vectoring to board.”

  “See?” Alyssa hissed. “They scanned us and saw that we’re in here. They shut down everything but life support.”

  “They hacked us?” I asked, finding it hard to believe the ship’s Primary Control System was that poorly protected from intrusion.

  “Prepare to be boarded,” Matt said, his voice unbelievably calm. The guy definitely knew how to keep his cool under pressure. I wondered if I would be so zen after years of interstellar firefights.

  I wondered if I would live long enough to find out.

  “What should we aim at?” Tyler asked. “I can’t see a damn thing in here.” He didn’t have time to take a breath after he finished talking before emergency backup lighting activated, offering a weak glow from various positions around the hangar. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

  It had to be.

  Crouching behind the railing, I nestled the stock of the plasma rifle against my shoulder and peered through the electronic sights. The targeting system lit up with a red reticle, but so far there was nothing in the hangar to shoot at. Ally’s body quivered even more than before, her rifle reticle probably bouncing around like she was on a bucking bronco.

  "We can do this, Red," I whispered. "I've got your back." It was a line I had used plenty of times during online matches. I’d never seen Ally in a tense situation before, but her voice had always betrayed her nerves. Of course, once the bell rang, she would turn cold as ice and start clearing the board like the Terminator. I could only hope that part of her digital persona translated.

  She nodded, her lips pressed into a thin line. At the other end of our position, Tyler stared intensely at the hangar doors as if he could summon the enemy through sheer willpower. Matt knelt with his palms resting lightly on his thighs like he was meditating, his weapon leaning against the railing. I could picture him scooping it up, aiming and firing in a single smooth motion for a quick and easy kill.

  “Boss,” Meg said. “I’m up on Seven. Bad news. I’m locked out of the PCS.”

  “What?” Matt replied. “How?”

  “See, hacked us,” Alyssa confirmed.

  “If they hacked us, they could have shut down everything,” I replied. “Including life support. Including the comms.” I froze, realizing our mistake. “Damn it.”

  “What is it?”

  “They know we’re here. They’re coming for us.”

  Instead of further panic, Ally nodded, refocusing her attention on her targeting. Her hands quieted considerably.

  “Meg, can you reset the PCS and reboot?” Matt asked.

  “I can manually pull the plug, but it’ll be twenty minutes before everything’s back online.”

  “That has to be better than letting these guys do any more damage to it.”

  Silence followed while Matt waited for Meg’s reply. “Meg? Are you there?”

  “There go the comms,” Alyssa softly intoned.

  A heavy clang echoed through the bay, signaling that the aliens had locked onto our hull. I sighted along my rifle, finger resting beside the trigger guard. I was mostly the opposite to Ally. More calm before the fight, too full of nervous energy during it. I struggled to control my breathing, not wanting to hyperventilate.

  There were no sparks from laser cutters punching through the sealed bay doors. No creaks or groans of strain from the locked barrier. Instead, the smaller door in the larger hangar door opened without incident or complaint, ordered to do so through the impossibly compromised PCS.

  I tensed, ready to unload hot plasma death on the first ugly mug to show itself.

  A handful of seconds ticked past. Then alien forms spilled through the doorway in an organized deployment, weapons clutched in misshapen hands. They looked like cyborg ogres from some nightmare realm, heavily muscled, greenish-hued bodies rippling with unnatural veins of metal that immediately made me think of lab grown meat, where scaffolding provided the mold to shape the cells inside. Their flesh seemed to press against the lines of alloy, trying to break free.

  Dressed in drab brown military-style fatigues, their menacing teeth jutted out from an overgrown lower jawline. One of their two deep-set eyes was black, the other a pale white with a soft yellow glow behind it, suggesting it was cybernetic. They carried rifles, too. Larger, bulkier punishers. I was immediately certain I didn’t want to see used against us, not that I had much of a choice.

  The overall effect was both fascinating and deeply disturbing.

  As the dozen-strong alien squad fanned out across the deck, sweeping their exotic weapons back and forth, I sighted the closest ogre’s chest and moved a shaking finger to the trigger. As horrifying as these creatures were, they were still living things. Most likely ILFs from a nearby planet, possibly investigating because they had registered our sudden arrival as a likely threat. I held my fire, waiting for Matt to signal the attack by launching it.

  Looking over at him, I saw he had his rifle in hand, aimed toward one of the aliens in the back, whose better-fitting brown uniform, stature and positioning suggested he was the unit’s leader. Even with all of his experience, he hesitated to squeeze the trigger.

  The ogre sergeant spun toward our position, his mouth opening impossibly wide. "We know you're up there, softskins!" he bellowed in a deep, throaty growl, his English thickly accented by his physiology but still understandable. How the hell did he know English? "Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands over your head. You do not need to die today.”

  “Are you friend or foe?” Matt asked.

  “That depends on you.”

  “No friend says anything like that,” Alyssa whispered.

  “What are your intentions?” Matt questioned instead.

  “You will be honored by an audience with the Warden. He will determine your fate.”

  “And who is this Warden?”

  “The one who determines your fate.”

  “Sounds like an NPC,” I said.

  Alyssa bobbed her head in agreement.

  “And if we refuse to surrender?”

  “I think that’s pretty obvious, softskin. You’ll be incinerated.”

  I kept one eye on the ogres, the other on Matt. He crouched with his rifle pointed at the lead ogre, considering the options. My idea to hide was a total bust. We were screwed the moment the aliens had gained access to the PCS. My first real decision, and I had blown it completely.

  What would Matt decide?

  He didn’t move a muscle, tense seconds passing while everyone in the hangar bay, regardless of species, waited on his final word.

  When he delivered it, he delivered it decisively.

  His single plasma bolt streaked across the hangar, a perfect headshot that should have hit the ogre sergeant clean between the eyes, killing him instantly. Instead, it hit a personal force field that flared as it caught the projectile, dissipating its energy without leaving a trace the shot had ever been fired..

  In the next instant, searing energy blasts peppered our hiding spot, scorching the deck around us. We all hit the floor, scrambling deeper behind the dubious shelter of the Hunter. Return fire lanced from Matt's position, catching one of the ogres squarely in the chest and proving that only the leader had a shield. With a wet thump, the creature toppled backward, fluids leaking from the sizzling wound.

  All hell broke loose. Ogres shouted curses in their native tongue, and while I didn’t understand the words, the tone was crystal clear.

  Finding courage I didn’t know I had, I snapped off a few wild shots in the ogre’s general direction while their weapons belched more chaotic beams our way. The intensity of their barrage turned the Hunter’s armored shoulders red-hot, forcing us to make sure we weren’t touching any part of the mech.

  "We're pinned down!" Tyler yelled above the cacophony. "This was a terrible plan!"

  I risked a glance over the railing. The aliens had taken up superior positions behind cargo crates and Head Case's shuttle. One of the ogres launched an incendiary grenade that arced high and landed on the deck near Matt's position. He managed to kick the explosive device off the platform before it released its volatile payload, the metal sphere exploding against the far bulkhead and spewing white-hot flames across the open floor.

  "Fall back!" Matt ordered, switching his rifle’s setting and spraying a burst toward the largest concentration of enemies. "Get to the elevator!”

  I needed no encouragement to abandon our position. Scrambling toward the elevator with Alyssa, I grabbed her and ducked instinctively as energy bolts flashed above our heads, their trajectory suggesting the aliens were on their way up both sets of stairs. Tyler reached the elevator, dropping low, his eyes wide with fear as Matt snapped off a few more shots before rolling away from the railing. Crouching, he headed our way.

  “What the hell are you waiting for?” he yelled, slapping the call button that, in all the chaos and panic, none of us had thought to hit.

  The three of us stood frozen there as the first of the ogres made it to the top of the steps, his chest barely in view when it absorbed a burst from Matt’s rifle. The alien tumbled back down the steps, a second one reaching the top level on the other side. Matt bent low and spun, his whirling leg clipping the ogre in the side of the head as if he were John Wick.

  “Why isn’t the cab already here?” he cried in frustration as he rotated back our way. The control panel signaled the cab was on Deck Two. No doubt, the enemy had used the PCS to keep it out of reach.

  The three of us cowered against the back of the hangar bay as Matt swept both sides of the upper level with his rifle, ready for the next ogre to show its ugly face. When they came, they rushed up the stairs, two on each side, fully synchronized, their advance so clean Matt immediately dropped his rifle and threw his hands up.

  Following his lead, we did the same.

  “An honorable effort, but you’ll pay for every Prall you killed today,” one of the ogres grumbled in garbled English as he approached cautiously but confidently with his three squadmates. Each one had one of us squarely in their gunsight, fingers on the triggers.

  The soft tone of the elevator cab’s arrival took me by surprise, but I didn’t dare look back. My only hint of what was happening came from the expressions on the ogres’ faces as the doors slid aside with a soft hiss. Their expressions reflected shock equal to mine, their rifles quickly changing direction to aim at whoever had come. Ixy, I assumed. That’s how I would have reacted to her, even now that I knew she wasn’t dangerous.

  To us, anyway.

  The ogres were still trying to adjust their aim when something hit them as if they had each stepped in front of a moving car. It threw them backward with such force they vanished over the front railing or tumbled back down the stairs to the lower deck.

  “Yes!” Tyler shouted excitedly, looking back into the cab before I did.

  Ben stepped out onto the upper deck, hands glowing with saving power. He just barely made it over the threshold before the effort of channeling chaos energy overwhelmed him. His eyes rolled back in his head and he pitched forward. Matt caught him before he smashed face-first into the platform’s metal gridwork.

  The ogres rushed up both sets of stairs en masse and stopped, their rifles trained on us point blank.

  “No,” Tyler lamented, the word uttered quietly beneath his breath.

  There was nothing more we could do.

  CHAPTER 22

  The ogres moved us to the hangar’s lower deck, one of them easily carrying a delirious Ben down the steps as if he were an infant. He laid him out on the deck in front of their leader, the hulking brute looming over us with a look of furious disdain as the others tended to the wounded and dead. Only five of the twelve who had boarded remained unharmed. Not a bad showing for the Stinking Badgers, even if I hadn’t managed to hit anything but plating during my pathetic defense. Most of the damage had been done by Ben in the span of a few heartbeats.